“This award honours the early career achievements of Professors Craft and Squires, which have had a tangible impact on our communities,” said Sylvain Charbonneau, vice-president, research. “Their research, collaborative and interdisciplinary, has made a remarkable contribution to the advancement of knowledge in their respective fields of Indigenous law and health care.”
Aimée Craft — Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
An international leader in Indigenous law, treaties and water, Professor Craft bases her work on partnerships and intergenerational knowledge-sharing. The Anishinaabe/Metis researcher favours field data collection, while using her leadership skills to encourage collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
“I work with a team of undergraduate law students on the issues of water governance and management,” she says. “I seek to further the contribution of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in decision-making affecting, for example, access to drinking water, and thus, stimulate in-depth research on water regulation.”
The collaborative projects led by Craft are rooted in language and geographically linked to her home Treaty 1 and 3 territories (south-east Manitoba and north-west Ontario). Committed to knowledge mobilization, she has made films in the field and shared the results of her research to make the general public aware of Indigenous political realities and governance structures.
Learn more about Craft and her team’s Decolonizing Water project.
Janet Squires — Faculty of Health Sciences
An internationally renowned researcher in knowledge translation and a professor in the School of Nursing, Janet Squires leads national and international research teams aiming to reduce the gaps between research and clinical practice. Working with experts from Canada, Australia, the U.S., Great Britain, Sweden and New Zealand, she analyzes the role of context in knowledge translation, specifically, the impact of the physical and social environments in which health care is offered. Her work has influenced health care providers’ practices in this country and around the world.
“The goal of our research program is to increase the use of evidence-based research by health care professionals in clinical practice,” says Squires, who holds the University Research Chair in Health Evidence Implementation. “Using this evidence improves health care quality and patient outcomes, as well as health care system sustainability.”
Squires is very committed to educating the next generation of researchers. She is an inspiring mentor for many students and researchers, as well as for colleagues in the early stages of their careers.
The Early Career Researcher of the Year Award, offered by the Office of the Vice-President, Research, highlights teaching and research excellence in the social sciences and humanities, as well as in pure and applied science. It comes with a $10,000 research scholarship.